Information and management computer applications are used extensively to track and manage data relevant to an enterprise, such as marketing and sales data, manufacturing data, inventory data, and the like. Typically, the application data resides in a centralized database within a distributed storage system, and in a format such as in Oracle, Informix, or SQL and the like. Local applications integrate remote clients and network servers to use and manage the application data, and to make the application data available to remote applications such as via remote function calls (RFCs).
The centralized location of the application data can be problematic in that it places on the enterprise owner the onus of maintaining complex computer systems in order to support the applications. For example, it has traditionally been necessary for the enterprise owner to acquire the knowledge necessary to purchase and maintain the physical storage devices that store the data. To avoid running out of storage space, typically more space is acquired than is actually needed. To avoid losing important data, typically more data is retained than is actually needed. These pitfalls can spiral out of control, resulting in a lack of storage space becoming an emergency or important data being lost or corrupted.
The enterprise owner also disadvantageously has the responsibility for the many administrative details required for efficient and effective data management, such as managing individual utilizations of the physical data storage devices in view of the continually varying network load.
This has caused a proliferation in cloud-based service providers offering remote storage and maintenance of the application data, shifting the need for expertise from the enterprise owner to information technology experts. That advantageously enables the enterprise owner to pay for only the amount of storage space actually used because the charges can be provisioned as the amount of storage changes. Further, shifting the administrative tasks to a contracted service provider frees up the enterprise owner to focus on its core business concerns. It is to an improved solution that the embodiments of the present technology are directed.